An Englishman in New York

Lovell send us a report of his visit to the Big Apple

The big apple was bigger than I remembered, certainly in terms of height and scale. Last time I visited, back in 2000, I focused on Manhattan itself, but this time, with a more travelled eye, we ventured out to Brooklyn, Coney Island and Queens (for the MoMA), as well as revisiting the old favourites nearer the centre.

To escape the heat of the city, we exercised two options. The first, Central Park, was ideal for lazing in the muggy, humid afternoon. In the evening we visited the air-conditioned bliss of the cinema to see Harry Potter.

Something new I soon discovered was that the trailers shown are for films not due out for another half a year. We were subjected to snow, Father Christmas and yuletide gaiety; six months on from June = Christmas.

We headed out to a Comedy Club, hoping to catch the next Woody Allen. As everyone in New York reserves their seat, we arrived to get the last two seats, the two seats nearest the stage of course.

Out of the six comedians on stage that night, there were a couple of genuinely funny, self-deprecating guys. Sadly, given our position in the audience, we were subjected to "Comedy 101" as each reeled off their collection of Royal Family and British "Bobbies" jokes.

I'd heard about an exciting new DJ from Chicago, Janel Roland, who I was hoping to catch there, but discovered she was in New York whilst we were there, so instead decided to visit Table50, where she was spinning, and singing, one night. What I didn't know was that it was an exclusive Naked Music pre-release party, and that it was a strictly "name down" affair. We managed to get in thanks to the Steven Mckenny look-a-like doorman mistaking me for a Lovell Fuller look-a-like friend of his. Needless to say, it was fantastic; very New York, darling.

Lovell Fuller

New York City, United States